Rwanda's Kagame slams critics as Congo rebels press south

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00:00President Paul Kagame said that Rwanda was ready to, quote,

00:05deal with any possible confrontation with South Africa,

00:08should it arise over the conflict in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

00:13The long-simmering conflict in Congo has intensified over the last week,

00:18with M23 rebels capturing the strategic city of Goma.

00:22Congo, South Africa and others accuse Rwanda of backing M23.

00:27Kagame has rejected criticism over his country's role in the conflict.

00:32During a virtual summit of East African leaders,

00:35Kagame accused South African President Cyril Ramaphosa

00:39of distorting recent conversations about the conflict.

00:42He's also there pretending to be playing a peacemaker role,

00:49and he has a force that has been fighting alongside Fderreira

00:56and has been fighting the M23 on the instructions of Secede

01:03because these are people who are not supposed to be in Congo,

01:10that these are from Rwanda, or the M23 are not Rwandans.

01:17Congo President Felix Tshisekedi did not attend the virtual summit.

01:22Instead, he gave a speech to the nation,

01:24in which he promised a military campaign to recover lost territory.

01:32Rwanda is facing an international backlash over its actions in Eastern Congo.

01:37It has repeatedly intervened there, either directly or through allied militias,

01:42over the past 30 years in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide.

01:46The United States has told Rwanda it is deeply troubled by Goma's fall.

01:51Germany has cancelled aid talks with Rwanda,

01:54while Britain said the $40 million of annual bilateral assistance it gives to Kigali were under threat.

02:00After seizing Goma, M23 fighters were advancing south,

02:05from the town of Minova, along the western side of Lake Kivu.

02:10Goma itself is a lakeside city of nearly 2 million,

02:14and a major hub for displaced people and aid groups.

02:18M23 says it plans to administer the city,

02:21and appears to be settling in for a lengthy period of control.

02:27Scores of Congolese asylum seekers who fled to Rwanda during recent fighting are returning home,

02:33following assurances of safety from the rebel group.